Ben Collins and Nikolay Fal triumphed in the latest Event 67, and 69 of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2024 to claim their first gold bracelet and top prize money. In this report, we will recap Events 67 and 69, and the final hand of these events.
Event #67: $500 Salute to Warriors No-Limit Hold’em Recap and Standings
The $500 Salute to Warriors NLHE event attracted 4,571 players, generating a substantial prize pool of $1,851,970. The prize pool was paid out to the top 678 finishers, with $40 from each buy-in donated to the United Service Organizations and other veteran-supporting entities.
Ben Collins emerged victorious after defeating Stavros Petychakis. He walked away with the top prize of $207,486 and his maiden gold bracelet.
This unique event attracted several notable players, who made deep runs including 2006 WSOP Main Event Champion Jamie Gold, who finished 436th, 2015 Main Event 7th place finisher Pierre Neuville, who finished 124th, and Vladas Tamasauskas, who finished 15th.
Collins entered the three-handed action with a small chip lead against Tolga Gesil and Stavros Petychakis. But he took a massive chip lead after eliminating Tolga Gesil (3rd – $102,360), who was the second chip lead.
Collins raised from the button with his pocket sevens and Gesil three-bet with pocket kings. Collins moved all in, and Gesil quickly called the bet. The board came out A-9-J-7-5, giving Collins a three-of-a-kind hand, ending Gesil’s run.
In the final hand of the tournament, Collins raised the button with A-8, putting Petychakis in an all-in situation. Petychakis thought for a few seconds but eventually called it A-2. The board came out 9-8-3-6-J, sending out Petychakis as the runner-up. Petychakis walked away with the top prize of $138,423.
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1st | Ben Collins | $207,486 |
| 2nd | Stavros Petychakis | $138,423 |
| 3rd | Tolga Gesli | $102,360 |
| 4th | Paul Serrate-Cortes | $76,338 |
| 5th | Rami Hammoud | $57,420 |
| 6th | Dane Harnett | $43,564 |
| 7th | Ben Snodgrass | $33,341 |
| 8th | Siavash Bahri | $25,742 |
| 9th | Gerald Schnierer | $20,052 |
Event #69: $1,500 Stud Eight-or-Better Recap and Standings
Nikolay Fal secured his first bracelet by winning the $1.5k Stud Eight-or-Better event. He outlasted a field of 611 entries to take another six-figure score of $153,730. The substantial turnout generated a prize pool of $815,685, and only the top 92 players took a share from it.
With this victory, Fal now has over $2.48 million in live tournament earnings. This was Fal’s third largest career cash-in, behind the $326,153 he won in the $3,300 NLHE event at the Merit Western Poker Series 2022 and the $230,000 he earned during a $2,700 NLHE event at the PartyPoker MILLIONS Russia 2017.
Fal and Christian Roberts entered the heads-up play with almost even stacks, but Fal quickly took the lead, establishing a 2:1 chip advantage. On a crucial hand, Roberts called a large bet in a massive pot only to be best by Fal’s trips threes, leaving Roberts short-stacked.
Roberts got eliminated eventually as Fal’s two pairs triumphed over his pair of six. Roberts finished as the runner-up, earning $102,492 for his deep run.
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1st | Nikolay Fal | $153,730 |
| 2nd | Christian Roberts | $102,492 |
| 3rd | Joseph Hertzog | $70,288 |
| 4th | Kenneth Kemple | $49,127 |
| 5th | Dekel Balas | $35,006 |
| 6th | Yuval Bronshtein | $25,442 |
| 7th | Nikolay Ponomarev | $18,866 |
| 8th | Jon Turner | $14,280 |
| 9th | Joey Couden | $11,038 |
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Image Credit: WSOP
